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McDowell, Davison, 1784-1842. Davison McDowell papers, 1759-1958.

Title: Davison McDowell papers, 1759-1958.

Chiefly family correspondence and business and legal documents of Davison McDowell; including legal documents, 1767-1820, re wills of Thomas Kirkpatrick and William Stitt; indentures of Agnes Stitt; and settlement of Robert Kirkpatrick's estate. Two account books, 1776-1837, Georgetown, S.C., of personal and household expenses, chiefly re Asylum Plantation and other lands owned or planted by D. McDowell including Pee Dee, Springfield, Hoogley, Oatlands, Sandy Island, Rice Hope, and Woodville plantations; topics include rice crops; supplies and clothing for African American slaves; lists of slaves identified by name, age, and family units; expense statements, 1822, re construction of coastal home; livestock; and contracts with overseers, Abraham Singleton and David W. Litchfield. Letter, 18 Aug. 1810, Newry, Ireland, to Agnes Kirkpatrick, Stateburg, S.C., re purchase of piano, and settlement of estate; 2 letters, 25 Sept. and 4 Nov. 1814, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and Charleston, S.C., from Thomas Smith, Jr., to Davison McDowell, Waccamaw, S.C., re clothing and supplies for slaves, crop prospects, Gen. Jacob Brown's victory, President James Madison's loss of prestige since the destruction of Washington, D.C., estate of Dr. Waring, rice crop prices, and economic hardships. Letters, 30 Sept. 1815-29 May 1816, Kilkeel, Ireland, from Charles Lewis to Davison McDowell, Georgetown, S.C., re comparison of British and American government, McDowell's activities during the war, comparison between Irish and American soldiers and heroes, and busines failures in Ireland; affidavit, 21 Nov. 1818, re Simpson family of Ireland, and particularly James Simpson, formerly of S.C. Plantation journal and account book, 1803-1809 (Roll 1335); plantation journal, 1815-1833; plantation journal, 1815-1842; plantation daybook, 1823-1826 (Roll 1335); Asylum plantation daybook and plantation journal, 1823-1826, lists of slaves identified by name, tax returns, daily entries of work accomplished, "Observations" re planting rice, and comments on damage caused by storms (see microfilm R 910); and genealogy, 18 Apr. 1959, by Mary James Richards, re McDowell family including obituaries, correspondence, journal entries, 1811-1842, and other records.

ArchivalResource: 2 rolls microfilm.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43652879 View

McDowell, Davison, 1784-1842. Asylum plantation journal, 1815-1833.

Title: Asylum plantation journal, 1815-1833.

McDowell's Asylum plantation journal, 1815-1833, contains a record of seasonal household moves between plantations, the sea shore, and various other properties, and notes joint purchases with neighboring planters J.W. Allston and R.O. Anderson. Substantive information on slave holdings is found in the journal through yearly lists of slaves and their allowances of food and clothing, records of slave "crimes and misdemeanors" and other notations shed light on punishments meted out to slaves accused of stealing or attempting to run away. A journal entry dated 24 Aug. 1831 reveals something of McDowell's style of plantation management, "Moses & Dowey came to me...this morn[in]g this day makes 4 weeks since the[y] went away. As they have come home themselves (agreeable to a Rule of the Plantation) they are not be whipped! But the[y] are to be deprived of all the Comforts of the Plantation: the[y] are to get no Summer cloths, Christmas: & as their offence appears to me of great enormity (my Crop being very grassy when the[y] went away) I think I will give them no winter cloths: Moses being a class leader is prohibited from Public Preaching for a year." A later journal entry, 9 Dec. 1831, alludes to legal action brought by McDowell following the unsanctioned whipping and confinement of one of his slaves. McDowell's plantation management appears to have been under the direct supervision of drivers, two of whom, Manza and Sam, are identified in the yearly lists of plantation slaves and are named often in journal entries. An entry from Feb. 1827 indicates that "the business of the Plantation went on under the sole direction of Manza" while McDowell was confined to his bed for more than three weeks with "a grievous sickness which the Doctor's called Epedimic." The sole reference to an overseer is an account of the discharge of Mr. McCarty in September 1830 for intoxication. Activities in politics and public life documented in the volume include McDowell's appointment as supervisor of Georgetown District elections (6 Oct. 1826 and 14 Oct. 1830); the Nullification controversy along with McDowell's comments on the Union convention and South Carolina's growing preoccupation with sectionalism and states rights (3 Dec. 1832); and McDowell's role as a bondsman in the trial of slaves accused of complicity in an abortive Georgetown insurrection (July 1829) . The journal contains detailed planting and crop records indicating the date when planting began, when planting was completed, when harvesting began, and when harvesting was completed. Although rice was McDowell's cash crop, subsistence farming was necessary to feed the many hands on Asylum. The journal denotes McDowell's careful attention to the cultivation of other crops such as corn, peas, potatoes, yams, and oats. As is typical with many plantation journals, the volume contains a systematic record of weather observations. McDowell's record is particularly interesting for meteorological prognostication for the coming year based upon the weather for the twelve days of Christmas.

ArchivalResource: 1 v.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191726519 View

McDowell, Davison, 1784-1842. Plantation journal, 1815-1842.

Title: Plantation journal, 1815-1842.

McDowell's plantation journal documents life for this rice planter of South Carolina; volume contains a record of seasonal household moves, 1815-1842, and planting and crop records, including the amount of corn and rice harvested since 1826 and 1825, respectively. Typical of plantation journals is a record of weather observations, including a system of meteorological observations for the twelve days of Christmas, said to indicate the weather for the coming year. Information on the McDowell slave holdings is found in the journal, including lists of slaves and their allowances, an 1839 list of slave crimes and misdemeanors, and other slave-related information gleaned from the record of tax returns. The slaves of McDowell's niece, Agnes Fraser, were also enumerated on McDowell's tax return. Additionally, the journal evidences the task system by which McDowell worked his slave laborers.

ArchivalResource: 1 v.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191703998 View

Richardson, J. S. (John Smythe), 1828-1894. John Smythe Richardson papers 1767-ca. 1900.

Title: John Smythe Richardson papers 1767-ca. 1900.

Legal papers, personal and family correspondence and other writings of Richardson, his wife, Agnes McDowell Richardson and others, including his father-in-law, Davison McDowell (1784-1842), dating to Colonial, antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction and later eras. Early items consist of business papers and correspondence, 1767-1838, of Davison McDowell (1784-1842), father-in-law of J.S. Richardson; topics discussed in McDowell papers relate to family in Ireland, McDowell's 1810 visit to Ireland to settle the estate of a relative; plans to buy a piano; crop prospects; comments on the War of 1812; two letters to McDowell, 29 May 1816 and 30 Sep. 1835, from Charles Lewis of Kilkeel, Ireland, commenting on "the unhappy differences between our Governments," and an Irishman's opinion of President Andrew Jackson and the military might of the U.S., admonishing McDowell not to compare "your Farmer Jackson to our Irish Military Hero, nor your fresh Water sailors to the Conquerors of the Seas." School papers, ca. late 1840s, from Richardson's days as a student at S.C. College, and extensive volume of correspondence of Agnes McDowell Richardson with members of her family and with various publishers, chiefly of Presbyterian magazines; scrapbook, 1854-1885, of clippings from The Sumter Banner newspaper, including an account of proceedings in Congress for Richardson's contested seat and reports and speeches covering his career in Congress; diary, 1859, kept by Agnes Richardson with an account of a trip to the springs resorts in the mountains of western Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C., New York City and Niagara Falls. Seven bound volumes, 1809-1885, consisting of legal notes by Richardson; poems; information on historical events written in narrative form; Civil War items include four letters from men requesting to join Richard's company and resolutions to the ladies in the churches for aid rendered his company; Unbound pages from a scrapbook containing views of Charleston, S.C., (40 items, 1861-1865), with clippings of poems, and article on the Sumter Volunteers service in the Civil War. Fifteen legal documents, 1830-1890, relating to Sumter District, S.C.; including land papers; letter, 5 Oct. 1866, signed by Governor James L. Orr, commissioning Richardson to act as agent for South Carolina and apply for the land paper to "provide Colleges for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts"; certificate of Richardson's election to congress, 23 Nov. 1878; certificate of Richard's appointment as Master for Sumter County, 13 May 1880; printed "Roll of Company 'D'," 9 July 1884, Second South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Letter, 30 April 1874, from Richard Lathers (Charleston, S.C.), re Reconstruction politics and success of our "distinguished delegation to Washington... in enlisting the sympathy... of our country to the evils ... we suffer," and ways that President Ulysses Grant's reception had benefited the South; the "unwillingness of influential congressmen to... [change] their policy... [which] would be an acknowledgment of... the Evils, if not the illegality of their reconstruction policy," advocates a citizens' organization for reforms "to have a fair election... that white and black men shall be defended at the poles"; comments "The Ku Klux Klan was... regarded by the North as a war on the federal government and the black man and hence their sympathy"; and explains his excuse for this letter is "my desire to save our people from the pests which afflict them." Letter, 23 Aug. 1876, from John Lawrence Manning suggesting full attendance at meetings "both of Speakers and audience - the negroes like the music of fresh tongues... [they] are so shy here in attending our call-meetings, that it is wise to catch them at their own"; correspondence from John Hamilton Evins, Joshua Hilary Hudson and George D. Tillman discuss the contested Congressional elections of 1876 and 1878, expressing support for Richardson in his campaigns, Hudson comments, "If it be undignified and unbecoming in a judge to make political speeches, I have certainly sinned"; and letter from a sister in England to Mary Hort, a teacher, and British immigrant. Four volumes, 1837-1861, "Extracts from Miss Mary Hort's Journal," copied by Mrs. Richardson, re schools and religious activities in Sumter County; comments on local families. [Mary Hort was a local teacher in Sumter County, S.C.]

ArchivalResource: 11 v.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/750441501 View